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CONSENSUS
This is a compelling documentary, even for those who aren't fans of rap.
CAST & CREW
Russell Poole, Voletta Wallace, Nick Broomfield
Directed by Nick Broomfield
more...
SYNOPSIS
Hot on the trail of another controversial and provocative subject, award-winning documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield (Kurt & Courtney; Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam; Aileen Wournos: The Selling of a Serial Killer) chronicles the still unsolved murders of rap superstars Christopher Wallace (aka Biggie Smalls, the Notorious B.I.G.) and Tupac Shakur. more...
MPAA RATING
R, language
RUNTIME
1 hour, 47 minutes
RELEASE DATES
Theatrical: Sep 27, 2002
Video: Feb 18, 2003
RELEASE COMPANY
Lions Gate Films
GENRE
Musical & Performing Arts, Pop Music, Pop Music, Rap Music, Murder, Documentary, Rap/Hip Hop, Rap Artists, African Americans, African American Cinema
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TIDBITS
NEWS ARTICLES
LINKS
SUBMIT/EDIT ARTICLE
SUBMIT USER REVIEW
FORUM
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 "With a story as bizarre and mysterious as this, you don't want to be worrying about whether the ineffectual Broomfield is going to have the courage to knock on that door."
-- The Wolf, IOFILM.CO.UK
 "Broomfield fashions himself a crusading hero, and it's likely that enthusiasm that helps him do his job, but it's the director's self-love that robs the film of some integrity."
-- Phil Villarreal, ARIZONA DAILY STAR
"Even if you have no interest in the gang-infested, East-vs.-West Coast rap wars, this modern mob music drama never fails to fascinate."
-- Bob Strauss, LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
"Broomfield gets his subjects talking candidly before they’ve had the chance to compose themselves. It makes the director an amusing guide through the gangsta-rap underworld."
-- Daniel Steinhart, FILM JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL
"Broomfield has taken this intriguing and sad tale, and made a compelling film that should be of interest to nearly anyone, regardless of his or her interest in rap music."
-- Josh Ralske, BLACK STAR NEWS
"Broomfield turns his distinctive 'blundering' style into something that could really help clear up the case."
-- Alan Morrison, EMPIRE MAGAZINE [UK]
"Whether you like rap music or loathe it, you can’t deny either the tragic loss of two young men in the prime of their talent or the power of this movie."
-- Mike McGranaghan, AISLE SEAT
"Broomfield reminds us that beneath the hype, the celebrity, the high life, the conspiracies and the mystery there were once a couple of bright young men -- promising, talented, charismatic and tragically doomed."
-- Shawn Levy, OREGONIAN
"this film is not a love letter for the slain rappers, it's a taunt -a call for justice for two crimes from which many of us have not yet recovered."
-- James Hill, BET.COM
"While Broomfield's film doesn't capture the effect of these tragic deaths on hip-hop culture, it succeeds as a powerful look at a failure of our justice system."
-- Justin Hartung, CITYSEARCH
"Broomfield reveals an ironic manifestation of institutionalized slavery that ties a black-owned record label with a white-empowered police force."
-- Ed Gonzalez, SLANT MAGAZINE
"Broomfield seems to uncover a massive scoop here, revealing the multitude of people involved and the possible motivations behind the killings of his titular subjects."
-- Rachel Deahl, BOXOFFICE MAGAZINE
"A worthwhile documentary, whether you're into rap or not, even if it may still leave you wanting more answers as the credits roll."
-- Matt Arnoldi, BBCI FILMS
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"A brave and incendiary if sometimes haphazardly constructed documentary... by no means a perfect film, but, bristling with contradiction and confrontation, it certainly is alive and -- like its subjects’ too-early demise -- worthy of investigation."
-- Brent Simon, ENTERTAINMENT TODAY
"Daringly perceptive, taut, piercing and feisty, Biggie and Tupac is undeniably subversive and involving in its bold presentation."
-- Frank Ochieng, THEWORLDJOURNAL.COM
"Unfortunately this film will not satisfy if you are looking to discover the missing link, but if you are simply interested in humor and some 'interesting' footage, to say the least, you will not be disappointed."
-- Anthony Miele, FILM THREAT
"Occasionally interesting but essentially unpersuasive, a footnote to a still evolving story."
-- Maitland McDonagh, TV GUIDE'S MOVIE GUIDE
"Broomfield has a rather unique approach to documentary. He thinks the film is just as much a document about him as it is about the subject."
-- D.K. Holm, DVDTALK.COM
"Weirdly, Broomfield has compelling new material but he doesn't unveil it until the end, after endless scenes of him wheedling reluctant witnesses and pointing his camera through the smeared windshield of his rental car."
-- Chris Hewitt, ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS
"Broomfield is energized by Volletta Wallace's maternal fury, her fearlessness, and because of that, his film crackles."
-- Ernest Hardy, L.A. WEEKLY
"The fact is that the screen is most alive when it seems most likely that Broomfield's interviewees, or even himself, will not be for much longer."
-- Ryan Gilbey, SIGHT AND SOUND
"It will grip even viewers who aren't interested in rap, as it cuts to the heart of American society in an unnerving way."
-- Rich Cline, FILM THREAT
"Biggie and Tupac is so single-mindedly daring, it puts far more polished documentaries to shame."
-- Jeffrey M. Anderson, SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
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FRESH 67%
Avg. Rating: 6.7/10 |
"Broomfield's style of journalism is hardly journalism at all, and even those with an avid interest in the subject will grow impatient."
-- Alona Wartofsky, WASHINGTON POST
"The footage of the rappers at play and the prison interview with Suge Knight are just two of the elements that will grab you."
-- Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE
"Nothing sticks, really, except a lingering creepiness one feels from being dragged through a sad, sordid universe of guns, drugs, avarice and damaged dreams."
-- Gene Seymour, NEWSDAY
"It's like a rap Rashomon. There's a million different stories here."
-- Richard Roeper, EBERT & ROEPER
"You don't need to know your Ice-T's from your Cool-J's to realize that as far as these shootings are concerned, something is rotten in the state of California."
-- John Petrakis, CHICAGO TRIBUNE
"Journalistically dubious, inept and often lethally dull."
-- Lou Lumenick, NEW YORK POST
"Whether or not you buy Mr. Broomfield's findings, the film acquires an undeniable entertainment value as the slight, pale Mr. Broomfield continues to force himself on people and into situations that would make lesser men run for cover."
-- Dave Kehr, NEW YORK TIMES
"A first-person whodunit in which the filmmaker casts himself as a seedy gumshoe poking around a hallucinatory world in which poverty, crime, and drugs mix with fantastic wealth and grandiose scenarios lifted from The Godfather and Scarface."
-- J. Hoberman, VILLAGE VOICE
"Most of the information has already appeared in one forum or another and, no matter how Broomfield dresses it up, it tends to speculation, conspiracy theories or, at best, circumstantial evidence."
-- Richard Harrington, WASHINGTON POST
"[Broomfield] uncovers a story powerful enough to leave the screen sizzling with intrigue."
-- Owen Gleiberman, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
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"To call this documentary half-baked would be crediting it with a lot more time in the oven than it actually had."
-- E! ONLINE
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* Who are the Approved Tomatometer Critics?
* Mouse over a tomato icon for a publication's original rating. Original rating not available for every publication.
* In fairness to critics whose last name begins with a letter at the end of the alphabet, certain pages are sorted in reverse order, z-a.
* Certain "Biggie and Tupac" article data provided by the Movie Review Query Engine.
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lepetitchat78
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